The proliferation of communication devices creates a cacophony of bells, whistles, vibrations and other audible and haptic alerts which signal the presence of incoming information. Such alerts may be irritating to the user and others, such as an untimely device alert in a theatre. These alerts may create distractions leading to a loss of concentration in safety-critical situations, such as during a critical driving task.
Each communication device, a user may have several separate devices or an integrated device facilitating a number of communication services, provides its own alert. Additionally, a vehicle receives information from various vehicle systems relating to its operation and may also receive information from other vehicle-related systems such as a navigation system, an entertainment system and the like. The alerts, communications, annunciations and indications of these systems and devices, in whatever form they may be, are activated based upon the state of the associated system and not in relationship to the activity of the user or the condition of any other device or system. For example, navigation systems present information to the user/driver in synchronization to the position of the vehicle, but not in relation to the driver's attention. The driver may be focused on a particular task and miss some or all of the information provided by the navigation system.
The afore-mentioned U.S. patent application “Method and Response Synthesis in a Driver Assistance System,” Ser. No. 09/976,560 describes a system for managing information arriving to the vehicle operator based upon the existing operating conditions of the vehicle and the condition of the driver. For example, the system may inhibit or otherwise manage an incoming voice communication if at the time the incoming communication is received the vehicle operator is engaged in a safety-critical driving task.
Too often, information is received simultaneously with other information or while one is attending to a demanding task. Thus, there remains a need for an interface and method that manages receipt of information based upon the user's activity, conveniently informs the user of the presence of information and allows the user to act on the existence of the information.